Ricoh Company, Ltd. has joined as a corporate Silver member the Linux Foundation; a nonprofit consortium dedicated to promoting, protecting and standardizing Linux.

This membership will allow Ricoh to step up its development of Linux-compatible multifunction products and printers.

Ricoh has released in Japan and abroad Linux-compatible multifunction products and single function printers through the Linux Foundation.

In overseas markets in particular, where demand for Linux is comparatively high, Ricoh has already launched products whose driver can be automatically downloaded to the client?s Linux OS when it?s found via network printer discovery.

Since being developed by Linus Torvalds in 1991, Linux has been installed on a wide variety of computer hardware, ranging from corporate internet servers and mission-critical systems to desktop computers and netbooks, and is even used within academic organizations.

The Linux Foundation was established in 2007 to promote, protect and standardize Linux. It supports collaboration between Linux developers around the world, sponsored by companies that utilize Linux and open source software. The Linux Foundation also manages the Linux trademark, offers support for legal intellectual property protection to developers, and coordinates legal collaboration and education for companies and development community.